Adirondack Museum Receives Funding For Common Threads

Exhibit labels, you say? Exhibit labels are the small signs that identify artifacts in museum exhibits. They are generally made of hard material and mounted on a wall or in a case filled with objects. They are not stitched and never to be touched – until now. “Common Threads” will include fabric quilt-like labels that will allow exhibit visitors to uncover “layers” of information about the quilts on display.

Under the direction of Curator Hallie E. Bond, the exhibit labels were stitched by a volunteer group of quilters including Patty Farrell, Camille Nerney, Jackie Hornstein, Jackie Mallery, and Barbara Keough of Long Lake, N.Y. and Jeanne Gerber and Nancy Landmesser of Indian Lake, N.Y.

“Common Threads: 150 Years of Adirondack Quilts” will open on May 22, 2009 and continue through October 18. The Adirondack region has nurtured a vibrant pieced-textile tradition for over a century and a half. From bedcovers, plain or fancy, meant to keep families warm through long Adirondack winters, to stunning art quilts of the twenty-first century, the quilts and comforters of the North Country mirror national trends and also tell a unique story of life in the mountains.

The Adirondack Museum has received notification of a grant in the amount of $18,000 from The Coby Foundation, Ltd. in support of the quilt exhibit. The Coby Foundation, Ltd., located in New York City, funds projects in the textile and needle arts field. Its funding is limited to non-profit organizations in the Mid-Atlantic and New England.

The majority of the Coby Foundation’s support goes to exhibitions and education programs that combine excellent scholarship and effective interpretation. Irene Zambelli Silverman established the Coby Foundation in 1994 in honor of her mother, Irene Meladakis Zambelli. Mrs. Silverman described her mother as “the finest needlewoman in New York.” -- www.adkmuseum.org